Chapter 163 - 163: First Sunrise In The Island

They were already on their last three days in the island.

Kim Eunji was awakened from her sleep when it was still dark outside.

This came as a surprise for her as she would usually woke up when the sun was shining brightly outside.

But so far, this morning was different.

Kim Eunji hope that this change was for the better.

She then slowly removed Nathan's arm which was wrapped around her waist as gentle as she could to not wake the man up.

She then reached out for her eyeglasses resting on the bedside table and wore them.

However, the moment she stood up, she felt a wave of dizziness coming unto her making her to sit back on the bed.

Kim Eunji could only curse inside as she knew he was awaken by that abrupt movement on the bed.

She was right when she felt the bed moved and Nathan was now on a sitting position on top of the bed worriedly checking on her.

"Wifey! Are you alright?" Nathan asked her in panic.

"Yeah. I was just..." before she could even continue what she was about to say, she felt like throwing up once again so she rushed to the bathroom and puked in the toilet bowl.

Nathan came after her and held her hair together as he gently rubbed her back.

If this was the first time that he had seen her like this, she would definitely ask him to leave but this had been their morning routine now.

It would always start with her vomiting and then would end up on his strong embrace as he cradled her back to sleep.

When she was done puking on the toilet bowl, Nathan then helped her up and guided her to the sink so she could rinse her mouth to wash away all the acids inside it.

"I'm sorry if I wake you up." Kim Eunji apologized to him.

"Silly. You better wake me up if you felt like throwing up. We could not afford any accidents to happen, okay?" Nathan gently reminded her.

"But I don't want to bother and disturb your sleep. You were sleeping so peacefully that I felt guilty if I'd wake you up. And besides, I thought this dizzy spill won't happen this morning but I was proven wrong."

"Don't say that. You'll never be a bother to me. Your needs are more important wifey." Nathan coaxed her.

"Oh hubby. What should I do without you?" Kim Eunji said.

"Sleep. You better rest momma. It's still so early for you to wake up." Nathan told her.

"But I am not sleepy. I want to watch the sunrise with you, hubby. I mean have a morning walk. Come to think of it, I have been stuck here for more than a week and haven't got the chance to explore the entire island with you...do things like interact with the locals and the likes." Kim Eunji honestly said.

Nathan then looked at the time and realized it was close to sunrise.

"Are you sure? What about your morning sickness?" He asked her worriedly.

"I think I am good. As long as you're around." Kim Eunji cheekily said.

"I want to spend the last three days in this island meaningfully. I just don't want to be stuck inside our resort. I want to be outside and get back my freedom, too." Kim Eunji dramatically added.

"But you must be in bed rest for seven days, remember?" He argued.

"But today's the last day. So I'm sure I'll be fine. And besides, you'll be beside me, right?" She then looked at him with her puppy eyes.

Nathan could not resist her when she looked at him this way...with both her green and amber orbs staring back at him.

Nathan internally sighed as he knew she had won over the argument. He then decided to get up and went to the closet to take out a jacket and let her wore it on top of his shirt which Kim Eunji was wearing as her pajama.

He also took her track pants and let her wore it.

There's no way he would allow her to walk around with her legs bare.

He couldn't deny the fact that Kim Eunji's legs were the most beautiful one he had ever seen in the world.

He then took her eye glasses on top of the bedside table and let her to wear it back while he was tying her hair on a ponytail.

He also didn't forget to get her camera just in case she wanted to capture the sunrise and put it into frame.

He also brought a blanket to wrap around her to make sure she won't be cold.

"I can walk." Kim Eunji told him but Nathan didn't listen to her.

He was carrying her to make sure that she would not be tired in this morning walk at all.

"Please? I want to walk. Morning walks is a good form of exercise for me and the babies." Kim Eunji tried her best to reason with him.

Nathan looked at the complaining woman in his arms and said, "Fine...not until we reach below. The stairs were slippery for it drizzled last night. And I'll carry you every five minutes."

He could not argue with her as she was partly right. He just couldn't help not to worry about her.

Kim Eunji smiled triumphantly and kissed his cheeks as a reward.

Kim Eunji then securely wrapped her arms around Nathan's nape as they carefully descended on the stainless steel staircase to reach the bottom of the cliff and the sea shore.

The splashing sound of the waves and the cool morning breeze welcomed them when they reached the bottom.

Ahead of them, they saw a few fishing boats going towards the shore.

They must have come back from a night of fishing on the sea.

Since it was still dark, the fishermen were holding lamps on their hands to light up their boats as they sailed towards the shore.

The entire shoreline surrounding this island had lights on it to all night to help the chieftain in the community in guarding the entire island from illegal intruders at night.

Going back, she was looking at the fishermen's respective partners and wives who were patiently waiting on the cold morning for their husbands arrival and a smile could be seen visible on her lips.

The scene was somewhat similar when they arrived in the island.

Kim Eunji found it pitiful that she could not communicate to any of them.

She tried to learn the language with the help of Manang Ines but she was not confident to use all she knew in conversation.

"Hubby," Kim Eunji softly called him.

"Hmm?" Nathan hummed in response as he looked at her.

Seeing her eyes fixed on the scene ahead of them, Nathan was curious on what was running on Kim Eunji's mind.

"What's wrong? Is something bothering you?" Nathan said as he caressed her back.

Kim Eunji looked up at him and said, "Is there a way that we could help them?"

Her question melted Nathan's heart and his love for her grew leaps and bounds.

"Oh, yes we are helping them wifey." Nathan answered her which earned a quizzical look from her.

"Most of the members of the community here, whether you believe me or not were ex-prisoners who found their new life in this island. Because of that, some of the people on the mainland and the nearby islets were quite hostile to them and the locals here."

Nathan said as he guided her towards the coconut tree with bent lower body which enabled them to sit there as he continued his story.

"The people here were so welcoming and were so non-discriminating towards someone's background before they entered the island. This was one of the reasons why I like it here."

Everyone deserves a second chance in life but not all are worthy of it. So no one should deprive them of that chance to prove that they're worthy of that chance to change themselves for the better.

Still, it's easy to judge a person by the mistakes he had committed in the past and it's hard to change someone's judgment towards that person especially if the former have had committed something unforgivable and violated the criminal law.

And the fear that the person would never change and would go back to its old habit would always be there.

And these types of people were vulnerable to being discriminated no matter how hard they tried to prove that they had changed.

One once said, 'Once a criminal, always a criminal.'

And that stigma had been hunting those who really wanted to change for the better.

Thus they needed a place that would make them feel welcomed and would give them have the second chance to have a better life. A place were they could show and prove that they're worthy of that second chance.

And Nathan didn't want to deprive them of that chance thus he made sure to help them.

When Nathan took the ownership of the island from it's former owner, he gifted them and the fishermen more fishing boats and fishing nets to use for their fishing livelihood.

The fresh fishes that they got from an all night of fishing would then be sold on their stall on the mainland market.

Others used the boats for their island hopping livelihood on the nearby island.

Compared to this island, the other island was much bigger and more open for foreign and local tourist since it was managed by the local government on the mainland.

So, there were many resorts open for many local and foreign tourists to stay for vacation. And island hopping was one of the favorite activities of these tourists which would enable them to reach the seven other islets not far from the island.

Each islets had it's unique charm which enticed tourists to go back and visit it again and again during the holidays especially during summer.

The guests on the resorts here would also go and visit those islets, too.

As she heard that, Kim Eunji had some regrets in her heart. She wanted to visit and explore those islets as well but she couldn't because of her current condition.

Now she knew why Nathan wanted to have their honeymoon in this area. Aside from the fact that this island as well had a lot of undiscovered attraction which were now exclusive to them, there were seven other islets which were waiting for them to explore.

Now, she somehow felt guilty deep inside her.

"What are you thinking?" Seeing that his wife was in deep thoughts, he could not help but ask her that.

"Nothing." She immediately denied.

"Oh? I know what you're thinking." Nathan teased her.

"Don't worry, when we come back for our vacation next time, we'll make sure to visit those islets. We could invite Kelly, first brother and the others here as well." Nathan consoled her.

As she heard that, the guilt in her heart finally eased.

Right. There would always be a next time.

Nathan did a lot of things for the community in this island.

He also arranged a livelihood program for the wives to learn on making export quality handicrafts such as bracelets and jewelries made from shells, and woven rattan baskets and chairs.

This island also had a clam farm which produced enough pearls to supply a national jewelry making company in the country.

Others were working as staffs in the remaining two operating resorts in the island.

There were originally five resorts in the island but Nathan decided to buy those out after he found out that those resorts were improperly dumping their wastes on the sea polluting the waters surrounding the area.

He also received complains from the locals that some of the guests of those resorts had disturbed them by holding late parties and would even harass them.

Call the people here weird but they wanted a peaceful and quiet life after their not so great and chaotic past life.

They're willing to welcome tourists as long as those people knew their limits and boundaries.

That's why Nathan had imposed a strict rule on those two resorts to limit the day and night booking of the tourists every day. It should not surpass to fifty per day and overnight should be cut to half.

Of course those resort owners had filed their complaints but there's nothing they could do as Nathan owned the island now and they were only leasing the land where their resorts were standing in the island.

Thus they had no choice but to set their rates much more expensive to accommodate their operating expenses. As a result, only foreign tourists could afford the rates.

Nathan also established a community elementary and high school equipped with complete sets of computers and other modern learning materials needed so the students would have a comfortable and better learning environment which was not inferior to the ones found in the mainland.

By doing so, the students need not to cross the sea just to get to school either on the mainland or the second island.

This made the youth and as well as their parents to be delighted as finally, the good quality education that they have been dreaming to come in their community was now on their reach.

Now, those who stopped their studies would now got the chance to go back and continue.

It's never too late for someone to pursue their studies.

He also provided a scholarship program for those students who wanted to continue their college degree on the mainland.

Also, he provided solar panels per household so that they would no longer use petroleum lamps at night.

Nathan didn't stop there as he built a community clinic complete with amenities and fascilities together with two physicians whom Nathan paid every month to provide free check-ups and consultations for minor health problems.

With an estimated number of close to a thousand families in the island, those were enough for now.

Kim Eunji was shocked to learn how much help Nathan had provided for the community.

And what amazed her more was that the fact that Nathan didn't disclose this to the community.

Those who knew would keep their mouth shut due to NDA that he let them sign. Manong Popoy was one of them.

"They deserved all the help that you had given them, hubby." Kim Eunji told them.

"They do." He gently replied.

"Still, if you have something to add on to that, I'm sure they'd be delighted of that." He then added, encouraging her to do what she wanted to do.

"I don't think they still needed my help. You have had provided them what they needed. But maybe, you could add up on their mental health…Can we hire a psychologist to check on them? On their progress…on their well-being. After all, the process of change would always be not easy." She suggested.

"Well look unto that, wifey." He replied.

It didn't take long and they witnessed their first sunrise together.

"Beautiful!" Kim Eunji praised at how the sky which was formerly black had become orange and then pink with tone of red around it.

"Indeed."